A gossip website is hit with an $11 million judgment for libel and slander after posting false accusations that a northern Kentucky teacher, who works on the side as a Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader, was exposed to two venereal diseases.

The messages between Sarah Jones and the 17-year-old boy were read in the courtroom as part of her defamation lawsuit against a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based gossip website.

The 27-year-old Jones, the teen's former teacher, texted him that it was love at first sight when he walked into her classroom for freshman English and that she knew they would be together one day.

Jones is asking the jury to award her $11 million for lewd posts made about her on thedirty.com, saying they caused her severe distress and weren't true.

Attorneys for the website and its owner, Hooman Karamian, say her relationship with the teen proves Jones is sexually immoral and that she's to blame for her tarnished reputation.

Jones' attorney, Eric Deters, said Karamian, who goes by Nik Richie, should be responsible for the entire post involving his client because he hasn't said who submitted it and will argue that the Communications Decency Act doesn't protect TheDirty.com.

"Unlike social media sites such as Facebook or YouTube that allow someone to put up something and they don't comment about it, Nik Richie personally acts as the editor in determining what goes up," Deters said. "It's nothing more than an electronic newspaper that peddles smut."

If Jones wins, an attorney for the website owner says other websites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter could be bombarded by lawsuits over material posted by their users.

"It opens the floodgates," said David Gingras, who has successfully argued dozens of similar cases across the country. "It would basically destroy the ability of websites like Facebook that allow users to post comments. ... Once you strip away their immunity, once you make it conditional, you open the door to allow them to get sued."